1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for supplying articles to a high-speed packing machine. More particularly, it is an apparatus for delivering the articles one after another into U-shaped cases on a conveyor traveling close to the articles, while the articles and the cases are moved forward at the same speed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional packing machine is schematically shown in FIG. 7. FIG. 7 illustrates the steps of sheet delivery, articles feeding, case forming, paste coating, pressure application and bonding. A magazine M disposed in an inclined position holds a plurality of flat caseforming sheets 02 each having a plurality of folding lines formed thereon. The sheets 02 are one after another delivered from the magazine M by a sheet delivering device 01, and are formed into U-shaped cases 02'. The cases 02' are delivered onto a case conveyor 03 one after another at appropriate intervals. A plurality of articles 04 to be packed are supplied synchronously with the cases 02' along a path close to the conveyor 03. Each article 04 is fed into one of the cases 02'. As the case 02' holding the article 04 is moved forward on the conveyor 3, the side seams and the upper and lower flaps are folded along the folding lines. The subsequent steps of paste coating, pressure application and bonding are also carried out on the conveyor 03.
FIG. 8 shows a typical apparatus which has been conventionally used for feeding the articles into the cases. It includes an article conveyor 05, a bucket conveyor 06 for conveying appropriately grouped articles 04 and an article loading pusher 07. A roller 08 is provided at the rear end of the pusher 07. A guide rail 09 is provided for the pusher 07. Levers 010 are rotatable about a guide rail 011 by an overload when the article 04 is loaded. They are connected by a tie rod 012.
Each group of articles 04 arriving at the bucket conveyor 06 from the article conveyor 05 are pushed by the pusher 07 into the cases 02' on the case conveyor 03. The apparatus also includes a mandrel 013 provided on the opposite sides of the conveyors from the pusher 07. A roller 08 and a guide rail 014 are provided for the mandrel 013. The rollers 08 are movable along the guide rails 09 and 014, respectively. As the rollers 08 are moved, the pusher 07 and the mandrel 013 are moved along the guide rails toward each other until the articles 04 are completely inserted into the cases 02'. The cases 02' holding the articles 04 are transferred by the conveyor 03 to allow for the subsequent steps of folding, paste coating and bonding to be performed.
According to the conventional apparatus as hereinabove described, the bucket conveyor is moved synchronously with the case conveyor, and the pusher and mandrel disposed on the opposite sides of the conveyors from each other are moved for loading the cases with the articles. A large space is required on either side of the conveyors for accommodating the pusher of mandrel and the mechanism associated therewith. A long time is required to adjust the operational timing of each conveyor, the pusher and the mandrel. A long time is also required to perform their maintenance.